Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Boosts Stake in Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN)

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Ciena Co. (NYSE:CIEN) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 31,897 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 220 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Ciena were worth $2,705,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Ciena by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,408,014 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $148,348,000 after buying an additional 33,074 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management bought a new position in Ciena in the 4th quarter worth about $245,000. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Ciena by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 10,459 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock worth $887,000 after acquiring an additional 152 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ciena during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $421,000. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ciena by 0.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 21,664,066 shares of the communications equipment provider’s stock valued at $1,334,290,000 after purchasing an additional 108,407 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 91.99% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ciena

In other Ciena news, SVP Dino Diperna sold 2,682 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.64, for a total transaction of $235,050.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 50,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,435,197.48. This trade represents a 5.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Bruce L. Claflin sold 16,912 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.96, for a total transaction of $1,436,843.52. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 59,347 shares in the company, valued at $5,042,121.12. This trade represents a 22.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,742 shares of company stock worth $5,469,173. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Ciena Stock Up 6.2 %

CIEN stock opened at $69.63 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.90 billion, a PE ratio of 122.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.91. Ciena Co. has a 52 week low of $43.30 and a 52 week high of $101.44. The company has a quick ratio of 2.72, a current ratio of 3.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.32 and a 200 day moving average of $73.86.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CIEN has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Ciena from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $70.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, December 13th. Northland Securities upgraded Ciena from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $75.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Northland Capmk upgraded shares of Ciena from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price target on shares of Ciena from $94.00 to $79.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, B. Riley reissued a “buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (down from $97.00) on shares of Ciena in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ciena has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $81.38.

Ciena Profile

Ciena Corporation provides hardware and software services for delivery of video, data, and voice traffic metro, aggregation, and access communications network worldwide. The company’s Networking Platforms segment offers convergence of coherent optical transport, open optical networking, optical transport network switching, IP routing, and switching services.